Rampage (2018)

I know it's a bit of a stretch to expect something from movies based on video games by now, especially when it comes to a film like 'Rampage' which comes from the Midway arcade game of the 1980's. But there lies the problem and it's terrible that we don't have any kind of expectations for movies like this or really any movies anymore. We shouldn't be this way but it isn't like we're not right in our assumptions most of the time and while 'Rampage' is hardly the worst in this category it's still little more than fluff that you'll quickly forget once you leave that theater.

The film's biggest plus is Dwayne Johnson and Jeffery Dean Morgan who provide the best performances they can with the material they're given and seem to be the only people having some kind of fun with it. I hate constantly jumping on Johnson's movies I really do because he seems like a really nice guy who just wants to entertain people, but between this and last year's 'Baywatch' I really think he needs to pick his roles better. Morgan chews the scenery as he's known to do and is his usual sarcastic and oddly charming self. The rest of the cast fares much much worse with Naomi Harris who deserves much better than this. She is little more than an exposition machine who provides a slight forward hurdle to the plot when needed but is otherwise useless. The villains of this piece are by far the worst actors I have seen in a mainstream theatrical film in a long while. Their motivations are not only simplistic but it doesn't even make any sense even for a monster movie. To be honest, I don't believe they revealed a real reason for them to make giant mutations other than they wanted money...I don't know how that makes money for them but okay.

As for the mutations themselves, they're pretty average. The best special effects go to George who is motion captured by a real actor thus giving him a very outstanding presence and the CGI looks best on him. Interestingly, George has more personality than the humans here and even has a better sense of humor (even if it is just flipping off The Rock). As for the Wolf and Crocodile (or Ralph & Lizzie if you know the game) they are really bland designs and the CGI on them is more obvious. Lizzie's look is definitely the worse out of the three, being so unoriginal but at the same time overly designed and it's just a dinosaur with a bunch of spikes. Despite the monsters not exactly living up to their potential, I will say that the climax in which they fight each other and cause destruction and chaos is exactly what you expect and is at least entertaining. However, this is only twenty five to thirty minutes of a 90 minute film and it's simply just not enough to justify spending $150 million budget.

'Rampage' has some good action and interesting ideas but the action itself is only in the end and the ideas don't go beyond their basics, resulting in an incredibly forgettable action flick that you'll forget about until you see it in your local Red Box three months later. It's the kind of movie we see far too often that just makes a quick buck off of a nostalgic or younger audience then vanishes like a thief in the night. We as the film going audience deserve much better than 'Rampage'.

5.5/10